On the Moonlit Floor
by vilgehkmono
Summary: Sequel/companion to Lixia. Secret midnight picnics are underrated. Mikage/Teito, pre-series.


"Teito, wake up," Mikage hisses, and Teito rolls over to face him. He wasn't asleep, though he won't tell Mikage that - Mikage would worry, as it's nearing midnight. But when Teito closes his eyes, all he sees is blood; instead, he had listened to Mikage scurrying around below, wondering what his roommate was up to. Whatever it is, it seems to involve Teito.

"What?"

Mikage grins at him easily and holds a finger in front of his lips. Silly, because even though the walls are thin, it's only the two of them in the room and they're hardly likely to wake anyone else. Teito sits up.

"What's all this?"

Next to the bed is a basket, with Mikage's blanket folded on top of it. Mikage himself is wearing casual clothing, as though he's leaving for a visit to his family, and Teito frowns deeply at the thought.

"We're having a midnight picnic, of course. Quick, get dressed."

Fabric hits Teito's face without warning - clothes. They're Mikage's, of course, since Teito has no use for clothing apart from the uniform now, and he's outgrown the little he came to the academy with. He stares at the outfit, a pair of pajama pants and a nondescript shirt, and raises his eyes to meet Mikage's.

"No," he says flatly, and sets them aside. A midnight picnic? Teito doesn't understand the point of such a thing, and it will only be more trouble than he cares to take. He'd rather lay in bed, waiting for the morning. If he's lucky, his body will give in to exhaustion and he'll manage at least a little sleep before the day's classes.

"Yes," Mikage replies, and shoves the clothes back into his lap. "Think of it as a stealth exercise."

"The shirt is _orange_," Teito points out, knowing that it's a futile effort. It won't be the first time he has been swept up in one of Mikage's plans. "Orange is not a stealthy color."

Mikage shrugs at him and drops back to the floor to fiddle with the basket. "Then it's more of a challenge, isn't it?"

Teito grumbles as he pulls Mikage's slightly-too-large clothing on and slides to the ground with as much grace as a cat. He nearly trips on the pants, though, and glares darkly as Mikage has a quiet laugh at his expense. Teito has to roll them up three times before he can see his feet again.

"Let's just go."

Mikage dismantles the hinges on their window with skillful zaiphon and lifts it carefully onto his desk. Teito could have slipped through the gap without that, and has actually done it once before, but to get the basket through they need more space than the half-open maximum the hinges are designed for.

Teito pushes past Mikage to go first - the ledge outside the window is narrow, and he has better balance - and motions for Mikage to hand him the basket. Mikage does so but keeps the blanket for himself, and the two of them slide along the ledge carefully until they come to a section of sloping roof.

From there, it's only a matter of not knocking any shingles loose and not crossing the paths of any night guards. It's laughably easy to make it off of the school grounds, although Teito almost drops the basket once when one of the legs of the pajama pants comes loose and he trips.

"Follow me," Mikage whispers, once they're reasonably out of earshot. Teito only looks at him dryly, because it's not as if he hasn't been doing exactly that anyway, but if Mikage sees the look he ignores it and heads straight for the woods.

As Teito presses past grasping branches and thorny vines, he wonders why he always lets Mikage talk him into these things, but it's a thought without any venom. At least it gives him something to do other than lay sleepless until the dawn.

Eventually they break into a clearing, and Mikage must have been here before because otherwise Teito has no idea how else he could have found it. A small pond takes up most of the space, which isn't very large to begin with, and Mikage spreads his blanket over the rest of the space.

"Found it during a training exercise," Mikage explains cheerfully as he smooths the fabric out, anticipating Teito's unasked question. "Nearly stumbled right into the pond."

Teito sets the basket down and flops onto his back as Mikage elaborates on the whole grand adventure - and probably embellishes it, too. His voice is soothing, the ups and downs of his story flowing together like music, and Teito finds that he's relaxing. The stars cluster together in patters across the patch of sky overhead, thinker on one side than that other. The moon, probably, shining so that only the brightest stars can push through its influence. It's the right direction, at least.

"And now, let's eat!" The words break through the gentle haze Teito allowed himself to be lulled into; without quite knowing why, he flushes a little as he sits up.

Mikage is pulling out a veritable meal of food, most of it yakisoba based, and Teito's mouth falls open a little. Sitting in the center is a jug of milk that by all rights should have taken up most of the space in the basket on its own. Teito is a little floored; the basket certainly hadn't _felt_ heavy enough for all of this.

"The lady in the kitchens didn't want to let me have any of this at first, but I mentioned it was for you and suddenly she couldn't give me enough. She really likes you - probably because you're so scrawny." Mikage glances at him with a critical eye. "Yup, definitely that. I had her put in the milk, too, since it'll make you grow taller. After all, you need all the help you can get."

Teito is sensitive about his height, and Mikage is only too fond of teasing him about it. The only appropriate response, then, is to tackle his roommate, careful to avoid the food; it turns into an impromptu wrestling match, carefree and friendly, and when it ends a few minutes later, a smile is tugging at Teito's mouth and Mikage is laughing and they're half-off the edge of the blanket with trying not to crush the food.

And then the world catches up with Teito and he's suddenly all too aware of how close they are. His hands pinning Mikage's arms. Their legs, tangled together. Chest to chest, close enough that they are almost breathing the same muggy summer air.

Mikage isn't laughing anymore, but he isn't moving, either. Teito hesitates, staring down at him. All too clearly, he remembers that day a couple of weeks before, kissing Mikage under the sun. There's a strange look on Mikage's face, like he's torn between choices, and slowly Teito realizes that it's up to him to move away or move closer. He still doesn't know which he wants to do.

His heartbeat thuds in his ears, deafening, and Teito is sure that he's redder than he has ever been in his life. The truth is, he _does_ know what he wants. He just doesn't know how to ask.

But maybe... he doesn't need to.

Every muscle in his body is tense as he bridges the gap between them and presses a clumsy kiss to Mikage's lips. A brief rush of air brushes his cheek as Mikage releases the breath Teito hadn't realized he was holding, and then Mikage's mouth is moving against his and Teito hadn't known, until just now, just how desperately he'd wanted this.

He can feel the shift of muscles under skin as Mikage moves, freeing his arms from Teito's now-slack grasp and winding them around his waist. Mikage is warm and the night is warm and Teito feels like he's burning, but he follows the pull of Mikage's arms eagerly.

Two weeks. Two weeks of thinking of this possibility, in quiet unguarded moments. Mikage deepens the kiss, and Teito whines in the back of his throat.

Mikage still tastes like summer.

"The milk will spoil," Mikage warns, breaking away. Teito follows his mouth, ignoring the words in favor of catching him in another kiss. Mikage laughs, fondness and amusement warring for dominance. They lose to a sort of breathless happiness, and Teito doesn't know why, doesn't understand how _he_ of all people can be the cause of it, but his own cautious happiness floods through his body at the knowledge.

"Really, wild animals will steal our food," Mikage teases, and Teito growls a little at the interruption. Does Mikage always have to be so difficult?

"Let them," he says, and Mikage's smile is twelve kinds of light, wrapped up in one human boy. Teito's chest aches with it.

And then they don't say anything at all.

Contrary to Mikage's warnings, when they finally stop kissing and break apart to straighten their clothes, the food is waiting untouched. Teito's hands shake as he picks up the yakisoba bread and his skin feels a size too tight, like all of his energy is pushing to break through, but they don't have much time until dawn. The sun rises early in this part of the world, and soon the stars will fade. They have to be back in their room before that happens, because while two boys slipping out under the cover of moonlight might be hard to discover, the same doesn't hold true for the daylight.

Still, there's no point in wasting the food they've brought along, and Teito takes a drink from the jug of milk. It hasn't spoiled, either.

Sneaking back is as easy as sneaking in - easier, even, with the basket emptied - and Teito holds the window in place as Mikage reattaches the hinges. It's the work of a moment, and the sky outside is just starting to lighten as they step back.

"We should definitely do that again." Mikage flops back onto his bunk as he says it, stretching out.

That's when they realize they left Mikage's blanket in the forest.

Teito flushes and glares at the ground as he offers, voice gruff with embarrassment, "You can share mine."

Mikage forgoes the opportunity to tease him in favor of vaulting into Teito's bunk, and Teito ignores the way his heartbeat speeds up again and climbs into bed next to him. He's expecting it, but he still jumps a little when Mikage's arm falls across his chest and he pulls closer.

"Okay?" he whispers, and Teito nods, closing his eyes. He thought it would be weird, or maybe just _too much_, to be so close, after the clearing, but instead he just feels... safe.

Sighing a little, Teito relaxes into the feeling and lets sleep draw him along.

His dreams are filled with light.


End file.
